Cuba is proposing a new ‘collective’ form of leadership. What does
that mean?

Mimi
Whitefield, The Miami Herald

By this time next
year, under a new constitution, Cuba may have a prime minister, a
president of the republic — and another president who will head both
its parliament and Council of State.

That structure is a
big departure from recent decades when Raúl Castro — and his
predecessor, the late Fidel Castro — was president of both the Council
of Ministers and Council of State and also headed the Communist Party
of Cuba. Since April, Miguel Díaz-Canel has served as both president
of the Council of State and Council of Ministers and Raúl Castro
continues to lead the powerful party.

While the Communist
Party will continue to be the dominant force in the country, Cuba
analysts say they expect the president of the republic will be far
more influential than either the new post of prime minister, who is
expected to be a technocrat who will direct the day-to-day operations
of the government, or the dual president of Cuba’s National Assembly
and the Council of State.

The National Assembly,
Cuba’s parliament, recently approved a draft of the new constitution,
which will replace a 1976 Soviet-style constitution. But it still must
undergo an approval process and face a national referendum, most
likely some time next year.

If approved, as
expected, Castro and Díaz-Canel will likely remain the two dominant
figures in Cuba’s government. Castro said he expects Díaz-Canel to
succeed him when his term as party chieftain ends in 2021. In the
meantime, Díaz-Canel has acknowledged he will be looking to Castro as
a “lucid and tireless guide.”

“Díaz-Canel has
clearly been selected to be the guy,” said William LeoGrande, an
American University professor who specializes in Cuba. “The creation
of a prime minister, who will focus on the work of the ministries and
making sure the economic reform program is carried out, makes perfect
sense.”

Nevertheless, there
will be some significant changes. Currently, Díaz-Canel is both head
of state and chief of government. Those functions are separated under
the new constitution.

“The idea is to
create a more collective form of leadership within the framework of a
one-party state. I don’t see this as a separation of power so much as
functional differentiation,” said Arturo López-Levy, a former Cuban
intelligence analyst and a lecturer at the University of Texas Rio
Grande Valley. “The president will be more in charge of strategic
projects and setting development goals.”

Díaz-Canel has talked
frequently about collective leadership and among his first acts after
becoming president was visiting factories, schools, clinics and
neighborhoods in Havana and the provinces to solicit ideas and
suggestions from the Cuban people.

Borrowing a page from
the Chinese constitution, Cuba’s new prime minister will serve at the
will of the president of the republic, who is the more powerful
figure. But unlike China, which removed term limits for president and
vice president in a March 2018 revision to its constitution, Cuba has
imposed a maximum of 10 years of service.

Cuba still hasn’t
released the full text of its draft constitution. But from National
Assembly discussions and portions of the text that were made public,
it appears this is how Cuba’s government will be organized in the
future and how leadership roles will function:

▪ President of the
Republic: The president will be the head of state and make strategic
decisions on the development and direction of the country.

To become president,
a candidate must be a National Assembly member and a Cuban citizen by
birth. There are also age restrictions. The president must have
reached at least 35 years old and cannot exceed 60 years of age when
beginning a first term. There is no upper age limit for the vice
president, who also must be a National Assembly deputy.

The president also
will be limited to a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms. That
virtually guarantees that any future Cuban president will be drawn
from the generations born after the 1959 Cuban Revolution.

Rather than being
elected by direct vote, the president and vice president will be
elected by the National Assembly.

During the National
Assembly debate, Homero Acosta, the secretary of the Council of State,
said that because of the electoral college system, the United States
doesn’t elect its president by direct vote either. “No one questions
this,” he said.

The president of the
republic will carry out some of the duties that currently correspond
to the president of the Council of State and Council of Ministers but
will pick up a few new responsibilities under the proposed
constitution.

Among them: making
decisions on granting and withdrawing Cuban citizenship, giving out
decorations and honorific titles in the name of Cuba, granting
pardons, presiding over the National Defense Council, declaring
general mobilizations and natural disaster emergencies, proposing to
the National Assembly and Council of State declarations of war or the
state of war, calling meetings of the Council of State, signing laws
and decree laws, and promoting high-ranking members of the armed
forces.

Another interesting
change is that if either the president or vice president of the
republic is unable to serve, the president of the National Assembly
will assume the role until a new president is selected by the National
Assembly.

▪ Prime minister:
Being a National Assembly member is also a requisite for the new prime
minister, who will serve as head of government for a period of five
years.

The president will
propose the prime minister, who must be approved by an absolute
majority in the 605-member National Assembly.

Currently, the
president appoints and presides over the Council of Ministers or
cabinet. But under the new constitution, the prime minister would
direct and call meetings of the Council of Ministers, the chief
administrative and executive body in Cuba.

Why the change?

Government officials
say the changes are to improve efficiency and accountability.

The Cuban economy
grew only 1.1 percent in the first half of this year, Cuba’s future
oil supplies from Venezuela are in doubt, and its economic reform
process has stalled.

“There have been
bottlenecks with the current form of government,” López-Levy said.
“The prime minister will be a position in which performance will be
measured as well as how well the economy is managed.”

“The prime minister
will be like a COO (chief operating officer) who makes sure the
bureaucrats are following the policy they’re supposed to be carrying
out,” LeoGrande said.

This isn’t the first
time Cuba has had a prime minister. The late Fidel Castro served as
prime minister from 1959 until 1976, the last time the Cuban
constitution got a full overhaul. After that, Castro assumed full
control until he ceded power to his brother Raúl in 2006.

There was discussion
of bringing back the role of prime minister in 1992, “but I don’t
think Fidel Castro wanted to dilute his power,” LeoGrande said.

▪ President of the
National Assembly and Council of State: This new combined position
will more closely align the work of the National Assembly with the
Council of State. Not only will the same president head both entities,
but they will also have a common vice president and secretary.

While the National
Assembly meets twice yearly except when extraordinary sessions are
called, the Council of State remains in session throughout the year,
issuing decree laws and ratifying agreements and treaties when the
National Assembly isn’t in session.

This will continue to
be the Council of State’s role, according to the government. But it
has released few other details about how this new arrangement will
work.

“I would speculate
that having two presidents [of the republic and of the National
Assembly/Council of State] is an effort to draw a more precise line
between the legislative and executive branches,” LeoGrande said.

“The Council of State
will shed most of its executive functions,” said Carlos Alzugaray, a
retired Cuban diplomat.

Currently, there’s
some overlap between the 31 members who sit on the Council of State
and the 32 members of the Council of Ministers.

But under the
proposed constitution, those who serve on the Council of Ministers
won’t have a seat in the Council of State. Those in the judiciary, the
electoral council or bodies of state control such as the Office of the
Comptroller General can’t serve on the Council of State either, said
Acosta, the current secretary of the Council of State.

The number of members
of the future Council of State will be determined by the National
Assembly, he said.

The National Assembly
also will be getting some new duties under the proposed constitution.
Among them are interpreting the constitution and setting and
eliminating taxes.

Cuba still hasn’t
released a complete timeline for its constitutional approval process.
It plans to open a comment period for the Cuban populace from Aug. 13
to Nov. 15. Then the constitutional reform commission will evaluate
the suggestions and the constitution will be sent back to the National
Assembly for approval. That’s expected to happen late this year or
early next year.

After the final
version of the constitution is set, there will be a nationwide
referendum where voters will be asked to vote yes or no by secret
ballot.

Alzugaray said he
expects the referendum will be held by next Feb. 24 at the latest, and
that the new constitution will probably be implemented in the July
2019 session of the National Assembly.

Cubanálisis -
El Think-Tank

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